Daniel 9:2 Daniel 9:2 :
The New Living Translation: “Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.”
The Bible in Basic English: “the making waste of Jerusalem was to be complete, that is, seventy years.”
Young's Literal Translation: “concerning the fulfilling of the wastes of Jerusalem -- seventy years”
God's Word translation: “The LORD had told the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem would remain in ruins for 70 years.”
The Good News Translation: “the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins ”
New Century Version: “Jerusalem would be empty ruins for seventy years.”
Contemporary English Version: “Jerusalem will lie in ruins for seventy years.”
In 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 it says King Nebuchadnezzar “carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign; to fulfill Jehovah’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off its Sabbaths. All the days of lying desolated [shamem] it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”
According to the Theological Word Book of the Old Testament, the word shamem means, “to be desolated, be deflowered, be deserted”.
Let us consult the other translations again:
God's Word translation: “While it lay in ruins , the land had its 70 years of rest.”
Contemporary English translation: “Judah was an empty desert , and it stayed that way for seventy years, to make up for all the years it was not allowed to rest.”
New Life Version: “For the seventy years that the land was not being used , the Day of Rest was kept.”
New International Reader's Version: “It rested . That deserted land wasn't farmed for a full 70 years.”
New International Version (UK): “The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests ; all the time of its desolation it rested , until the seventy years were completed.”
There is no reasonable doubt about the verses we have considered so far. They could not be more plain and clear in what they say. All the land, specifically including the capital city Jerusalem, would be a ruin, a deserted land, an empty desert, resting, not being used, desolate, a wasteland, a wilderness.
There is more proof, let's go back to the prophecy of Jeremiah about this 70 year devastation. There he said “A desolate waste the whole land will become , and shall I not carry out a sheer extermination? ... Every city is left, and there is no man dwelling in them .” ( Jeremiah 4:27 , 29b Jeremiah 4:27, 29b ) “Be corrected, O Jerusalem , that my soul may not turn away disgusted from you; that I may not set you as a desolate waste, a land not inhabited .” ( Jeremiah 9:11 Jeremiah 9:11 ) So we can see that the land, including “Jerusalem”, and “every city”, is to be left without an inhabitant.
Another part of the Bible, 2nd Chronicles, summarizes the whole 70 year period. There it says:
“He [Nebuchadnezzar] burned the Temple of Jehovah, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, torched its palaces, and wiped away everything that was of any beauty.
“Then he carried off everyone who was left to Babylon , where they served as slaves for him and his sons until the Medes came along and fulfilled the words of Jehovah through Jeremiah, and the land had observed its Sabbaths . For, during the seventy years that the land lay desolate, it was observing the Sabbath .
“It was in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, after the fulfillment of the words of Jehovah through the mouth of Jeremiah, that Jehovah awakened the spirit of Cyrus and commanded him to send a written proclamation throughout his kingdom that said, ‘Cyrus the king of Persia says, All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by Jehovah the God of heaven, and He told me to build a Temple to Him in Jerusalem in Judea. Who of you are His people? His God Jehovah is now with him, so let him return to Jerusalem !’” – 2 Chronicles 36:20-23 2 Chronicles 36:20-23
There is a smooth logical flow in the verses above. It tells us of the beginning and the end of the 70 years. First, it shows the city being destroyed and the last exiles being taken. Then when the “land lay desolate” (it is now truly desolate after Jerusalem being destroyed), it fulfilled its 70 years of Sabbath resting. The 70 years end after the Jews finally reinhabit the land.
